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Hundreds mourn young Queensland boxer

Everywhere you looked, there were unmistakable signs that Braydon Smith was a champion.

Boxing title belts were draped over his coffin. The initials TGW – for his nickname in the ring, The Great White – were emblazoned across the side of it.

A mannequin donning the 23-year-old’s bright orange robe stood with its arms thrust towards the sky in triumph, completing the image.

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But it was the tears in the eyes of hardened fighters and the words spoken by his family and friends in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Toowoomba on Saturday that indicated Smith was not just a champion boxer.

He was a champion person.

Smith’s grieving girlfriend Kirstie Nicholls described him as “the most inspirational human being”.

“You always kept me safe and brought out the best woman in me,” she said through tears.

“Brayd, you’re a true gentleman in every sense of the word.

“The love we shared was perfect and for that I’m forever grateful.”

Mate James O’Shea said his friend’s determination and drive meant he was destined to reach his peak and become the best boxer he possibly could.

“As a human being he didn’t have to go any higher – he reached that peak in that 23 years,” O’Shea said.

“Every day he lived like a model citizen, he lived at the peak of the human being that he was.”

In a moving tribute, Smith’s coffin was led to the hearse following a boxing-style ring announcement and thundering applause from the hundreds of mourners packed inside the cathedral and those who had to watch on monitors outside.

Smith died in hospital two days after losing a 10-round WBC Asian Boxing Council continental title fight last weekend.

A law student, he constantly spoke about his desire to change the negative perception of the sport in Australia.

His family donated his organs and are campaigning to bring a neurosurgeon to Toowoomba as his legacy.

– AAP

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